Released under a new brand name, SureFire, the Model 310 Tactical Light was the first dedicated handgun-mounted WeaponLight. It provided a rugged and reliable source of high-intensity light that could be conveniently mounted to a Colt 1911 pistol. At a staggering 15 lumens and powered by a single 123A lithium battery, the Model 310 featured two switches: A handgrip Pressure Switch activated the light as long as pressure was applied, while an On/Off Switch on the left side of the housing activated the light until the Off switch was pressed. Once again, a SureFire product created a new genre in tactical gear.
Great bit of history.
Just as a point of comparison, the incandescent 2xAA Maglite of that time was 14 lumens, and the 2D Maglite was 27.
So 15 lumens was actually a pretty respectable output for the era.
Yup duct taping a minimag to the shotgun barrel, breaching tools were what the local hardware sold and black was the only team color. I remember it all and couldn’t afford this quality stuff back then and no way you could find a holster outside of a very expensive custom leather job. I don’t even remember seeing 123 batteries and certainly not lithium back then though.
Yup, I did not know that CR123A were already around back then.
With a modern LED head it would still be useful to modernize Granpas 1911 I think.
15 lumens of blinding white light!
That 310 bezel doesn’t look familiar, its design seems more modern than classic weaponlight’s. I almost thought for a second that Surefire was releasing a limited anniversary edition in the vintage packaging…